Absence of Heart
by J. Dragonsoul
Summary: A girl wanders into the squad room and claims she was raped. Later that day, she turns up dead and every suspect seems to have an airtight alibi. Can the detectives find her rapistmurderer before he's gone? Casefile CASE CLOSED
1. opening

**[ ABSENCE OF HEART ]**

_In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit.  
__These are their stories._

**[ opening ]__**

Elliot Stabler sat at his desk, shifting through paperwork and quietly noting the beginning of a headache's steady parade. His right hand held a pen laced under his middle finger and over the others and with his unoccupied fingers, he rubbed his temple, attempting to convince the parade that it was going to start raining really soon and it was time to pack up and crawl back into what little godforsaken hole it had been lurking in.

"You okay?" he heard his partner, Olivia Benson, ask and he looked up to meet her concerned eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He managed to drag up a smile for her.

"Headache?" She smiled back sympathetically.

"Yeah, this is enough to give anyone a migraine." He gestured helplessly at the pile of paper assembled on his desk.

"Want to see if we can sneak out of here to get some lunch?" She grinned conspiratorially.

"I think Cap'n would notice if we left but it's worth a try." He chuckled quietly and got to his feet, walking over to the coat rack to pick up his coat. Olivia followed him, grabbing her own jacket and slipping it on. Elliot noticed John Munch watching them, obviously wishing that he had thought to leave for lunch before them. Elliot felt sorry for the guy but someone had to get left behind to hold the fort.

He turned to walk out of the squad room and ran into someone. "Hey!" Elliot exclaimed in surprise, looking down at the teenage girl who had been knocked to the ground. "Are you okay?" He gave her a hand up and did a quick rundown on her.

She looked to be in her early teen years, no more than sixteen. She had shoulder-length blondish-brown hair and dark brown eyes. Her jeans looked well-worn and the printing on her blue t-shirt was faded, speaking of years of wear. _She either loves those clothes or doesn't get to replace them often,_ he noted. The girl huddled miserably in her large black jacket as if she was trying to retract from the world and shrink smaller, like that would fake others into denying her existence.

"Can we help you?" Olivia asked and, while the girl's eyes were focused on the floor, she quickly shot a look at her partner that said, _We're definitely not getting out of here for lunch today._

The girl hesitantly glanced up at Olivia. "They told me I should come here," the girl started shyly, her voice soft. "The other policemen did, that is. They said you dealt with people like me… or, well, my kind of cases… um…" She returned to studying her toes intently.

"Come on and have a seat over here." Olivia put a gentle hand on her shoulder and guided her into the squad room, sitting the girl down in a chair by her and Elliot's desks. Olivia took a seat nearby her and picked up a pad and pen.

"Would you like something to drink? We've got some coffee, tea…" Elliot asked while he stood, leaning back against his desk. He wished he knew what to do to make the girl more comfortable. She was putting him on edge.

"No, I'm fine," she whispered, then looked up quickly and hurriedly added, "But thank you for the offer anyway."

"No problem." _Poor kid…_ Elliot thought. _She looks like she's had it rough. _"What's your name?"

"Eve Jordan." The girl replied calmly although her eyes were darting around the squad room with in an almost panicked pattern. Elliot pulled his chair up next to Eve's and sat down, hoping she would feel more at ease with both him and his partner appearing to be on her level.

Olivia wrote down the girl's name and looked up. "Okay. What's your problem?"

"I, uh…" Eve's voice failed her and her eyes dropped to the floor once more. Shortly, she started speaking again but she spoke so softly that Olivia had to lean forward to hear what she said. "I, um... I was at home and, uh… I was all alone and… and…" She shakily pulled her hands over her face, breathing deeply as she did so, steeling herself for whatever she was about to say next.

"I was raped."


	2. her story

Disclaimer: Didn't do this in the opening chap 'cause I thought it'd ruin the mood. So, as always, I don't own the show or the characters. If I did own the show, you'd know because Cassidy would have never left the show. [_sniffles_] He was so cute… I miss him… But I saw him on _Rescue Me_. XD Yay.  
However, I do own the original characters and basic idea created and used herein this story. So there. ;p  
This is going to be your standard SVU fare, therefore there's no foreseeable relationship stuff between the detectives of the unit in the future of this fic. Chapters will generally be one scene long, unless the scene is really short. Also, this is my first SVU fic so all comments, suggestions and corrections are most welcome. Since I don't live in New York, have never been there, and know practically next to nothing about it besides what I see on TV, I'm most likely going to make mistakes about some stuff, so forgive me in advance about that. ;p  
The title of this fic was taken from the Finch song _Worms of the Earth_, from the lyrics 'Absence of heart makes a boy, a man, a monster.'  
And lastly, I have a **livejournal** (link's on my profile) that I keep updated on how my progress on my fics is going. Check it out if you ever want to know what I'm up to and when the next update will be.

* * *

**[ Special Victims Unit  
Squad Room  
Monday, June 14th ]**

The girl looked around nervously, her gaze noting the nearby presence of Munch and his partner, Odafin Tutuola, and she swallowed silently. "Do we… do I have to tell you everything out here?"

Elliot stood up. "Not if you don't want to. We have a room where you can talk with us alone if that will make you more comfortable."

"Yeah, it's right over this way." Olivia stood also and gestured towards the destination.

"You sure you don't want anything to drink?" Elliot asked, "I was going to go get myself a cup of coffee anyway…" He trailed off.

"Well," the girl licked her lips slowly. "If I could have a cup of water-"

"No problem." Elliot smiled and looked at his partner. "Coffee?" Olivia nodded in confirmation before turning to lead Eve to the room where she could talk easier.

The girl sat down in one of the chairs, her fingers resting on the table in front of her where they started to tap quietly in an agitated tattoo. Olivia sat in the chair across from her, laying the pad of paper down on the table. She glanced surreptitiously at the one-way mirror the unit's captain, Donald Cragen, could look through in his office and hoped he was watching now.

"Oh, I just remembered, we never introduced ourselves. I'm Olivia Benson and my partner's name is Elliot Stabler."

The girl nodded. "Okay."

"Now, before we start, I have a question for you; why did you come straight here instead of to a hospital?"

"Uh, well, I wasn't hurt bad, just really shocked. I wandered around disoriented a bit after it happened and found my way here…" Eve replied lamely, stopping her fingers' movements. "I'll be able to explain it better after you know how, um, _it_," she stressed the word as if it were poison, "happened."

"Okay. Why don't you start with telling me how your day started?"

Eve nodded. "I woke up early, about eight-ish, and I showered, got dressed and all that stuff, then my friend came and picked me up."

"What's your friend's name?"

"Amos. Amos Baker. We hung out for a while, by ourselves and then with some other people, 'til about ten-thirty when my dad called my cellphone. He wanted to know where I was and what I was doing and so I told him." Elliot had come in and he handed Olivia her coffee and set Eve's water on the table. "He got kinda mad 'cause he thinks Amos is a bad influence so he told me I should go back home and stay there until he got back, which he said would be around six 'cause he was meeting with some people."

"Why's he think Amos is trouble?" Elliot asked, blowing on his hot coffee absentmindedly.

Eve scratched a fingernail over the table slowly, avoiding looking into the detectives' eyes. "Well, he got in a bit of trouble with the cops. He's learned his lesson though and even if he hadn't, he's one of my best friends, you know?" She shrugged, looking up at Olivia. "Anyway, Amos dropped me off at my place soon after that and I opened the door and walked in. Then this feeling kind of hit me. I felt woozy and faint and I think I vaguely remember a cloth over my mouth. Then I just blacked out. I figure it had something in it, you know, like the chloroform stuff they always use in movies."

Olivia nodded in agreement while Eve picked up her cup to drink. "That's very likely."

"What's the next thing you can remember?" Elliot inquired.

"Well, I woke up and I was on my bed and I was, well, naked." She blushed faintly, looking away from Elliot. "And the man was… doing his thing." She stared at the cup in her hands, her expression blank.

"Did you get a look at him?" Elliot's tone was gentle.

"No. He had me on my stomach with a pillow under my belly, propping me up for a better angle." She spit the words out angrily. "He must have noticed I was awake too, because next thing I knew, there the cloth was over my mouth again and I blacked out like before."

She looked up, her expression transformed to reflect sudden excitement. "I did see his hand though! The left one. He was white and he had a tattoo of barbed wire in a ring shape on his ring finger. Will that help you?"

"Yes, it will." Olivia smiled encouragingly at Eve and made a note of the tattoo on her paper. It wasn't much to go on for IDing the perp but at least it was something.

"Anyway, I came to again sometime later, no idea how long or anything from when I first woke up. It was eleven forty or somewhere around there though when I came to for the second time. I was fully dressed and except for feeling a little funny and somewhat sore, I was totally fine. I think if I hadn't woke up while he was doing it, I wouldn't have known it happened. Just think I fell down or something and my dad put me in bed." Her brow furrowed. "Except, I was a little wet. My hair wasn't. Just my body. Like the guy wiped me down or something."

"Can you think of anyone who would want to hurt you?" Elliot asked Eve.

"No… nobody." She sniffled loudly and rubbed her nose with the sleeve of her jacket. "I didn't recognize the tattoo so I don't think it's anyone I know."

"Well, Eve, I'm going to take you down to the hospital, okay? We need to have you checked for any injuries and we need to run a rape kit for fluids," Olivia said gently.

"Fluids?" Eve looked scared. "As in sperm?"

Olivia nodded.

"You think there's a chance I could get pregnant?" Her lip trembled and she looked like she was about to burst into tears.

"They have a pill for rape cases that you can take at the hospital. It'll stop any fertilization that might occur." Olivia turned to look at Elliot. "While I'm with her at the hospital, you want to tell the Captain?"

"Sure." Elliot nodded, taking the notepad Olivia handed him. He looked at Eve. "What's your dad's number?"

Eve froze like the cliché deer in the headlights. "You're gonna call him?" Her voice broke with emotion and sounded choked with tears.

"Yeah, we need to let him know what happened."

"You can't! He's my dad!"

"And that's why we need to tell him." Elliot smiled sympathetically at her. "He'll want to know about this and if he doesn't know where you are, he's going to be worried. I'm a father too and I know I would be."

Eve stared at Elliot for a moment, torn between her fear of how her father could react and Elliot's reassurances. Finally, she told him he could reach her father by his cellphone and recited the number for him. Elliot grinned at her, looking up from the notepad where he had written the number. "Thanks."

"Anything else you need to know?" she asked with a resigned sigh.

"One more thing. What's his first name?"

"Richard."

"All right. Ready to go?" Olivia looked at Eve as she stood. The teen nodded and followed Olivia out of the room.


	3. the lies

**[ Special Victims Unit  
Squad Room  
Monday, July 5th ]**

"-so Olivia took the girl to the nearest hospital to get a rape kit run and have her looked over." Elliot finished, falling silent while the squad absorbed the information on the newest case.

Cragen was the first to speak. "Have you looked into this Amos Baker yet?" He glanced over at Fin who was sitting in front of a computer.

"Yeah, just pulled up his file."

"What've we got on him?"

"Marijuana possession with intent to sell and a case of sexual assault." Fin raised an eyebrow at the last charge. "Sounds like he could've maybe graduated to something a little more advanced."

Cragen nodded. "Okay. You and Munch go talk to him. Elliot, give the girl's father a call and talk to him, tell him what happened. I'm going to give CSU a heads up and have them to go check out the girl's home."

Fin wrote down the boy's address and then followed Munch out the squad room door while Elliot picked up his phone to call the number Eve had given him. Elliot dialed the number and it rung twice before it was picked up. "Hello?" a gruff man's voice growled.

"Hello, I'm Detective Elliot Stabler with the NYPD. Am I speaking to Richard Jordan?"

"No, man. You got the wrong number." The man on the other end hung up.

Elliot hung up the phone after a moment and then picked it up again, redialing the number in case he had misdialed it before. "Hello?" It was the man from before and he sounded very irate.

"Sorry," Elliot said quickly, "I was trying to see if I misdialed the number."

The man replied with an insincere "no problem" and then hung up.

Elliot put the phone down on its receiver and stared at it for a long moment, a perplexed expression on his face. Cragen looked out from his office. "That was a short conversation. Is he on his way to the hospital?"

"No, Cap'n," Elliot looked at Cragen, "It was a wrong number. I tried it twice, in case I had misdialed it the first time but it's not him unless he's lying, but he's got no motive to."

"Kid must be desperate for her dad not to know." Cragen shook his head. "Call Benson and have her get the girl to tell us a real number. We've got to inform her parents." The Captain disappeared back into his office.

Elliot nodded and picked up the phone again, quickly dialing his partner's number. He waited while the phone rang but Benson didn't answer. Elliot left a quick message on her machine and then hung up. He stood up from his desk and walked over to Cragen's door. "She didn't answer but since the hospital's not too far away, I'm going to run down there to see if everything's okay."

Cragen nodded, chewing on a Red Vine absentmindedly. "I'll put someone on the finding the girl's father."

"Right." Elliot turned and left the squad room, picking up his jacket on his way. As he was exiting the station, he nearly collided with Olivia who was just entering. "Whoa! What's up?" she asked.

"The girl gave us a fake number for her dad. I tried calling your cell. Why didn't you answer it?" Elliot tried his best not to sound accusatory but the question still came out a little harsher than he would have liked.

Olivia looked at him quizzically. "What? I didn't get your call." She pulled her cellphone out of her pocket and checked it. She snapped the cellphone shut and exclaimed in frustration, "Damn! It died on me!"

"Is Eve still at the hospital?"

"She should be." Olivia was already walking to the car and Elliot hurried after her. She tossed him the keys and he opened the door, sliding into the comfortable driver's seat after some readjustment to the seat's angle and position.

They arrived at the hospital in less than ten minutes and the two detectives hurried into the facility. Olivia looked around and saw the nurse she had left Eve with. She walked up to the woman. "Excuse me. The girl I left with you, Eve Jordan, where is she now?"

"Oh, we finished with her just a little bit ago and she left. Her brother came to get her," the nurse answered.

"Her brother? What'd he look like?" Elliot asked.

"Oh, he was a good half foot taller than her, brown hair, and he was wearing a yellow baseball cap.

"Did she mention his name?"

"Yeah, she called him 'Amos.'"

"Amos?" Olivia raised an eyebrow, looking at Elliot who also had an expression of surprise on his face.

"Yeah, is that all you need to know? I've got other things that I have to do…" she trailed off.

"Yes, thank you." The nurse walked off and Olivia turned to Elliot. "So why would Eve lie about Amos being her brother?"

Elliot shrugged and the two detectives turned and exited the building. "Well, the hospital's more inclined to release patients to relatives than friends and Eve seemed like a smart kid. She probably figured that out and played her cards accordingly."

"She's lied twice so far. This isn't looking good." Olivia sighed. "Doesn't she realize this isn't going to make us want to trust her story? Who knows what else she could've lied about?"

Elliot's cellphone rang and he quickly answered it while shooting his partner a sympathetic look. "Elliot… uh huh… hang on… okay…" He pulled a notepad and pen from his pocket and scribbled something down. "Thanks." He closed the phone, ending the connection. He opened the door to the car and grinned triumphantly at Olivia. "Well, despite Eve's attempts to stop us from contacting her father, we've got his location. Cap'n wants us to go talk to him."


	4. Amos

**

[ Baker Apartment  
Monday, July 5th ]

**

"Nice digs," Fin commented as he knocked on the door of the Baker's apartment.

Munch took off his hat and wiped the sweat off his forehead with his coat sleeve. "Yeah, though it'd be a lot nicer if the elevator was operational."

"What? Five story climb up the stairs too much for you, old man?" Fin teased.

Munch opened his mouth to respond when the door of the apartment opened and a woman said politely, "Can I help you, gentlemen?" She was dark-haired and good-looking. Fin would have guessed her age to be in the mid-thirties if it wasn't for the gray that streaked through her hair and the lines caused from stress and worry that stretched across her face.

"Yeah," Fin flashed his badge, "I'm Detective Tutuola and this is Detective Munch. We were wonderin' if we could talk to your son."

The woman's face paled and she asked in a strained voice, "What'd he do this time?"

"Nothing as far as we know," Munch said in assurance, "Something's happened to one of his friends though and we wanted to see if he knew anything about it."

"Oh, come in please. My son should be home any minute." The woman stepped aside with a resigned sigh, color returning to her cheeks. She closed the door behind them and led them into a small living room. "Can I get you something to drink?" she asked as they sat down in chairs.

The two detectives shook their head. "Nah, we're cool," Fin said.

The woman sighed again and sat down on a couch. "What do you want to know?"

"Do you know a friend of Amos' named Eve?" Munch asked.

"A bit. She's come here with him once or twice. Good-mannered girl, respectful, although since she knows my Amos I imagine she's a different person when she's alone with her friends."

"What makes you say that?" Fin asked.

"Well, Amos isn't exactly the kind of teen parents want their children to hang out with. He gets into trouble a lot and usually drags his friends into it with him. What happened to Eve?"

"She was raped."

Mrs. Baker's expression was grim. "You think my Amos did it?"

Munch moved to assure the woman once again. "We have no suspects at the moment, ma'am. It's just your son was the last to see the victim before the assault and we need to talk to him."

The three adults looked up when they heard the door open and slam shut. "Mom! I'm home!" a strong male voice called out, accompanied by the heavy tromping of feet coming their way. A teenage boy of about eighteen stepped into the room and froze, his dark brown eyes locking onto the strangers sitting in his home. "Who're they?" he asked in a sharp tone.

"Amos, these detectives want to talk to you." His mother's tone warned him that he had better cooperate or else...

He glanced at his mother and sighed in defeat. "What's up?" He moved to stand next to the couch but didn't sit down. He leaned against the arm of the couch and took a yellow baseball cap off his head, twisting it in his hands. Fin noted the lack of a tattoo on his left hand's ring finger. The detective didn't immediately rule out the boy as a suspect though. The girl could have lied to cover for her friend, although why she'd do it, Fin had no clue. Women could be really strange that way sometimes.

"What'd you do today?" Fin asked, studying the boy. His tense posture spoke to the fact that he knew something.

"Oh, you guys wanna know about Eve." Amos relaxed a little and dropped the hat onto the couch beside him. Fin wondered if there was something he was hiding that had nothing to do with the girl.

"How perceptive of you," Munch commented.

Fin gave his partner a glance. "What do you know about what happened to her?"

"Not much." Amos shrugged.

"Well, please, enlighten us with what little you do know," Munch requested, looking at the boy pointedly.

Amos crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay. We hung out today until about ten-thirty and then her dad gave her a call and I had to take her to her place. She called my cell from the hospital sometime around two, no later than two-thirty though, and said she needed me to pick her up. I dropped off the people I was with at a nearby subway station and went to get her."

Fin's brow furrowed and he asked, "Why drop 'em off?"

The teen shrugged. "Eve sounded close to tears on the phone and I know that she hates having people see her in an emotional state and I respect that. So I dropped off the two guys I was with and went to get her."

"Then what?"

"When I got her, she looked like total shit," Amos shook his head. "I've seen her dead drunk before, hung-over and even one time when she was tripping hella bad but she _never_ looked as shitty as she did then. When we got into my car, she broke down and was sobbing and muttering incoherent shit. The only thing I could make out was 'home' so I took her to her place. She flipped out when we got there though and made me go through it and make sure no one was hiding inside before she'd step foot in. I made her a cup of tea, with plenty of sugar 'cause she likes it that way and I figured she could use the energy boost, and she collapsed on her couch. Then I asked her what was wrong."

Amos whistled, shaking his head again. "Holy shit, I've never seen her react like that. She threw the cup of tea at me and anything else she could get her hands on and screamed out some pretty bad stuff. I'm pretty sure her neighbors could hear it."

"What kinda stuff?"

"Stuff like, 'It's all your fault,' 'Burn in hell,' 'Fucking males,' 'I'll castrate every one of you bastards.'" Amos grinned and shrugged. "Shit like that."

"You find that funny?" Munch looked at the teen with an expression that said he was reassessing the boy's mental state.

"Well, she always says that kind of stuff, especially when she's drunk. She does it to get a rise out of the guys. She never means it, though this time I think she was serious." Amos straightened out his expression. "It was fucking scary. I thought she was actually gonna make good on the castration threat." He laughed nervously.

"What happened then?" Fin prompted.

"She just collapsed on the couch again and started sobbing. I tried to comfort her but every time I touched her or came close to her, she cussed at me and started crying even harder. Finally, I just left 'cause I figured me being there wasn't helping her."

"Do you have any idea who'd want to hurt her?" Munch asked.

"Nah, no one." Amos glanced at his watch. "Hey, listen, I'd love to talk to you guys for longer but I've gotta shower and then go work. So, are we finished?"

"Yeah, just give us the names of those guys you were with and where they're at right now," Fin said and Amos nodded, writing down the information on a scrap piece of paper he pulled out of his pocket and then handed it to the detective.

Munch gave the teen a card. "If you think of anything, be sure to give us a call."

"Sure, will do." Amos pocketed the card and walked out of the room.

"Is that all detectives?" Mrs. Baker asked, standing up and following them to the door.

"Yeah, thanks." Munch and Fin exited the apartment.

"You buy that kid's story?" Fin glanced over at his partner as they headed for the stairwell.

Munch shrugged. "Since he has no alibi, I'm hesitant to believe every word is the Gospel truth. He was the last one with the girl before the attack. Did you notice the lack of the tattoo she described?"

"Yeah, but she could be covering for him. Wouldn't be the first time."

Munch flourished the piece of paper Amos had given him. "Let's go see if these guys have anything more to add. If we're lucky, they might even a different version of events."


	5. her father

**[ Jordan & Rivera Finances  
Monday, July 5th ]**

Olivia and Elliot walked up to Richard Jordan's secretary who was situated in an entryway just outside his office. She was sitting behind a heavy black desk and working, hunched over the keyboard of her computer. Olivia tapped on the desk to get her attention and the woman looked up, startled. The two detectives flashed their badges. "We're here to talk to Mr. Jordan. Do you where he is?" Olivia asked.

The woman glanced at her monitor for a brief second and looked back at the detectives. "I'm sorry, Mr. Jordan's in a meeting at the moment. He'll be done in a few minutes though, so if you would like to wait, you can take a seat right over there." She gestured to the comfortable leather chairs next to a refreshment table on the other side of the small hallway. "There's some coffee too, in case you're thirsty or anything." She smiled pleasantly.

"Thanks," Elliot said, smiling back. He followed Olivia over to the chairs where they sat down. He glanced over at a side table and saw the stack of magazines present. Picking one up, he said, "Look at this." He pointed out the pop star on the cover and, more specifically, her navel piercing. "Can you believe those things? Kathleen's been trying to convince me to let her get one."

"Let me guess. You told her 'no way.'" Olivia smiled. She knew her partner too well to think he would give his daughter any other kind of answer.

"More accurately, 'no way in hell.'" Elliot shook his head. "Why do people want to pierce everything? I don't understand it."

"Well, why'd you get that tattoo?" Olivia motioned toward Elliot's right forearm.

Elliot was quick to jump to his own defense. "That's different though."

"No, it's not. You got it to mark a point in your life. Kathleen just wants want to make a mark on her own."

"But it's a piercing-"

"Which actually is easier to get rid of than a tattoo, considering all that you do is take it out and let the hole heal up. How much does it cost these days to take one of those suckers off?" Olivia jabbed at his arm playfully, grinning. Elliot gave her a look of betrayal and she quickly held up her hands as if in self-defense. "Hey! I'm not telling you to let her get the piercing! I'm just pointing out that she could be asking for something worse."

"Sounds to me an awful lot like you're on her side…" Elliot grumbled, standing up as the door to Richard Jordan's office opened and he stepped outside of it, following after a group of clients. He shook their hands and said his dutiful good-byes before finally turning to face the two detectives.

"Can I help you?" he asked, politely ushering them into his office and closing the door after they had entered. He moved to sit behind his desk and Olivia and Elliot sat themselves in the chairs opposite him.

"Yes, Mr. Jordan. I'm Detective Benson and this is my partner, Detective Stabler. We're here to talk to you about your daughter, Eve," Olivia began.

"Why? Is she in some kind of trouble?" he growled angrily.

Elliot took a breath before continuing. Telling the parents was always the hardest part of the job. "Actually, sir, she reported a rape to us this afternoon."

"Rape?" Richard Jordan's face was blank as though he couldn't absorb the information. "Are you sure? My Eve?"

"Yes, sir," Olivia answered. "We took her to the hospital to get checked over and have a fluid sample taken. She was most definitely raped."

"Do you know who did it?" he asked calmly.

"We're not sure at this point," Elliot said, shaking his head. "It's too early in the investigation for us to have any real suspects. We were wondering if you would have any idea of who would do this to your daughter."

"Amos Baker. That kid's trouble. He's gotten arrested before, just got off probation. I wouldn't put it past that little shit to do something like this." Eve's father rubbed his face with his hands and sighed deeply as he sank into his chair. "Actually, truth be told, I don't know many of Eve's friends and they're the only ones who could do something like this… but," he hesitated.

"'But' what?" Elliot prompted.

"It actually might have been one of my son's friends. They're all scumbags and junkies. Eve's friends are a bunch of pretty little songbirds compared to those boys."

"Could we talk to your son?"

Richard shook his head. "He's down in D.C., with his mother, but they'll be in the city soon, if I know my wife. She always comes running when any of the family's in trouble and she'll definitely bring my son along, seeing as how he can't be trusted on his own."

"Can you think of how someone might've been able to get into your home?" Olivia asked.

"Sure. Your best bet would be with my son's recently missing set of keys." He sighed and stared at an empty space on the table in front of him. "I suppose this is all my fault. I meant to change the locks but I kept putting it off. You see, my son's got a chronic history of losing keys. I've had to change the locks five times in the past three years. I find myself having trouble remembering at times if he's lost his keys for this set too, so I delayed a while in replacing it."

"So you think someone found the keys and used those to gain access to your home?"

"Yes, and it supports my theory that one of his friends did it. He usually 'loses' his keys when he's with friends. And his wallet. Thieving bastards…"

Elliot's phone rang and he answered it, standing and moving to the back of the room so as not to interrupt Richard. "Stabler… What're you talking about?" His expression was quizzical. "Okay, okay. We'll be there in a bit." He hung up.

"Here's our number. Please call us when your son's in town and it's convenient for us to talk to him." Olivia handed him the card.

"Where's my daughter at this time?"

"She's resting at your home." Olivia stood. "Thanks for talking to us."

"No problem." Richard stood also and picked up a briefcase from beside his desk. He began putting papers into it, obviously preparing to leave and go tend to his daughter.

Olivia followed Elliot out of the room. "What was that about?"

Elliot kept his voice down so as not to let the secretary overhear. "It was Cragen. He said CSU called, saying they were on scene at the Jordan's apartment and they had thought they were called in for a rape case, not homicide."


	6. developments

**[ RX Skate Rink  
Monday, July 5th ]**

"Let's try those two." Fin pointed to a pair of guys who were hanging out by the benches of the rink as the two detectives got out of their car. One of them was slumped on a bench, staring at the ground in front of him intently, and the other leaned against the wall beside his friend, his eyes nervously darting around the rink.

"You guys Matt and Jake?" Munch asked as they approached the boys.

"What's it to you?" the one who was leaning against the wall answered sullenly.

His friend looked up and he stared at the detectives with dull, glazed eyes. "Yeah, I'm Jake," he said before his friend could stop him.

"We wanted to ask you a few questions," Fin said, showing the teens his badge. "I'm Detective Tutuola and this is my partner, Detective Munch. Where were you guys earlier today?"

The one leaning against the wall, presumably Matt, put a hand on his friend's shoulder in warning as he stood up straighter. "We were hanging out with a couple friends."

"These friends got names?"

"Yeah, Amos and Eve."

"How long were you with them?"

"We got together with them about nine. Eve had to go sometime between ten and eleven so Amos dropped her off. Us guys had lunch together and then me 'n Jake split."

"When was that?"

Matt shrugged. "I dunno. One maybe. I don't have a watch and I don't really keep track of the time."

"You know where he went after you guys left?"

"No, no idea."

Munch noticed that Jake had put one of his hands in his jacket pocket and he was holding onto something. "What do you got there, Jake?"

The teen looked at Munch in surprise. "What're you talking about?"

"In your pocket there."

Jake glanced at Matt for a moment and then pulled a cellphone out of his pocket. "Just my phone."

There was still a bulge left in the pocket however. Munch smiled at the kid. "Come on, Jake. We're just your friendly neighborhood NYPD. You've got nothing to hide from us… right?"

Jake glanced at Matt apologetically as he guiltily reached back in his pocket, withdrawing a nice-sized plastic baggie filled with a suspicious dried green plant. Munch took the bag from the teen, glancing at his partner with a slight grin. "Ah, _cannabis indica_. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the last time I checked, this was still illegal."

"Yup," Fin pulled his handcuffs out of his pocket cheerfully. "And that's a pretty large amount for just two guys who wanna share a joint. You think we can pin on intent to sell? How long would that put 'em in for?"

"Five years minimum, but I think they'll get more than that. They've been coming down hard on dealers lately."

"Hey, man! I didn't know he had that stuff!" Matt held up his hands defensively.

"Liar!" Jake snarled, standing up in anger. "You just wanna save your own neck! I wouldn't have that shit on me if you hadn't hooked us up!"

"Shut up, Jake," Matt growled at his friend before looking back at the detectives. "Fine. So I knew he had it. You guys gonna arrest us?"

"Of course," Munch replied as he cuffed Jake while his partner cuffed the other boy. The detectives started walking the boys to the car. "But we might not put you guys up for dealing if you tell us where Amos went after you guys split. That might take a couple years off your sentence."

Matt was grim-faced; obviously the idea of spending five years in prison didn't settle well with him. "I really don't know. I'd tell you if I did."

"He still deal?" Fin asked.

The teen nodded as they were seated in the car, saying, "Occasionally, whenever something good comes up."

Fin slammed the door closed and looked at his partner as he opened his door. "Think Amos is dealing right now?"

Munch recalled Amos' nervous posture before he had discovered the detectives had come to talk about Eve. "No doubt about it."

"Why would he send us to talk to his friends if they were about to blow a hole in his alibi?"

"Probably didn't think they would be here," Munch replied as his phone rang. The detective answered it. "Munch… all right. We'll be there in a bit." He hung up his cell phone and cursed.

"What's up?" Fin asked, staring at his partner with concern.

"They found the Jordan girl murdered in her apartment," Munch answered as he got into the car.

**…**

Munch and Fin arrived on the scene after they had dropped the two teenagers off at a nearby police station. "How'd it happened?" Munch asked as he and his partner walked in the door of the apartment to find Olivia and Elliot already present.

"From the ME's preliminary, seems the guy came, strangled her to death on her bed and left. He didn't rape her again, just killed her." Elliot's expression was bleak.

"Why'd he kill her?" Fin was looking around the apartment, which was pretty clean, except for near the sofa where there were things thrown all over the place.

"Maybe he doesn't like girls who kiss and tell." Munch's tone was humorous but it was evident that he was upset, as was the rest of the squad. Mere hours ago, the girl had been alive and kicking; now she was lying sprawled out on her bed with a crushed windpipe and unseeing eyes fixed upwards toward Heaven and a god that seemed not to have cared for her plight. "Any of the neighbors hear anything?"

"We've talked to a couple of them and they stay they heard Eve yelling and swearing at someone around two-fifty but nothing other than that. There's also evidence of a fight, as you've probably guessed from the condition of this room," Olivia replied, gesturing towards the mess created by Eve's outburst.

"We talked to Amos Baker and he said that Eve yelled at him and threw a lot of stuff around after he brought her back here," Fin informed Olivia and Elliot.

"After which he could have dragged her into the bedroom and strangled her to death," Munch suggested.

"You think he did it?" Elliot asked.

"He said she was really pissed and taking it all out on him. If he's the quick to anger type, then yeah, he could've done it."

"He's got an alibi for the rape though, right?"

"Right," Munch nodded. "He was with two buddies during that time."

"Could they be covering for him?"

"Well, they shot out an hour of his alibi, though it was an hour during which nothing happened. Makes me think they're not lying for him 'cause if they were, wouldn't they cover all the time for him?"

"Yeah, that does make sense." Elliot sighed, rubbing his face with his hand. "So we've got no suspects for the rape?"

"What if Amos and the two guys were in on it together?" Olivia proposed. The three men looked at her quizzically. "What? It would make sense that way, wouldn't it?"

"Amos doesn't have the tattoo on his finger though," Fin said.

"Maybe she lied? Maybe it wasn't Amos but one of the other two guys? Did you check their left hands for tattoos?"

Munch and Fin glanced at each other a bit sheepishly, both realizing that they hadn't considered that the two might have had something to do with the rape. "Didn't even cross my mind," Munch admitted.

"Then again, what if it wasn't any of those three?" Elliot said to his friends and shook his head. "C'mon guys. These 'what if's are going to get us nowhere. Right now we need to start collecting more hard facts and then we can go from there. Liv and I are going to continue working in here. You two talk with the neighbors and see if they saw anyone or heard anything else."

* * *

I don't actually know how much time is the minimum in New York for possession with intent to sell of a Schedule I drug. I did some researching before I said "five years" though and I think it sounded like an okay number. Tell me if I'm wrong though. Corrections of facts wrongly stated are always good.  
And if anyone can help me with suggestions for writing Munch's dialogue, I'd love you forever. Really, I would.


	7. Tony

**.Tony.**

**Jordan Apartment Complex  
****Monday, July 5th**

Munch and Fin walked to the apartment next door to the Jordan's. The door was open and a police officer was standing inside, speaking to a large woman with long blonde hair. She was large but not obesely so. Some might have called her "big-boned" and when a person looked at her, they were reminded of a work animal, such as an ox or horse. The woman glanced up and saw Munch and Fin entering her home. Stepping towards them, she spoke, her voice rich and expressive, "Are you the detectives I was told were gonna talk to me?"

Munch nodded, the police officer slipping by he and Fin to go to another area where he could be of more use. "Yeah, that's us. Mrs. Laird, right?" The woman nodded in affirmation. "You're aware of what happened next door?"

"Yup, almost knew before the cops told me. I heard a lot of racket in there sometime this afternoon, probably three or so. Eve was yelling and cursing a blue streak, which was kind of surprising to me."

"How so?" Fin asked.

"Eve's a-" Mrs. Laird caught herself, "_was_ quiet girl. I never heard her raise her voice except when she was telling a joke to make her friends laugh. To hear her yell and scream like that made me worried. I tried to call her father to see if he knew what was happening but his secretary told me he was in a meeting and so I only left him a message."

"So, you know the Jordans well?" Munch inquired.

"Yeah, my kids and theirs hung out a lot when they were younger. Lately, though, not as much. I don't really know why." She shrugged her big shoulders in an expression of helplessness. "You'd have to ask them."

"Are they home?"

"My daughter isn't, but my son is." She turned, bellowing the boy's name into the back of the apartment. "Tony!"

"Coming!" Munch and Fin heard the teenager reply and he soon came tramping out into view. Like his mother, he was built large and the detectives would have bet their year's salary that he was a football player for whatever school he attended. One of his arms was in a sling, which spoke of a recent injury, most likely sports related.

"Talk to the detectives about Eve," she ordered, retreating into the kitchen where the sounds of a coffee machine being started up were heard.

"Sure, what do you guys want to know?" The boy asked.

"How well did you know Eve?"

"I knew her ever since she first moved in, when she was five or something. We're the same age, though she was better friends with my sister when they were friends. They haven't hung out in a while though."

"They had a falling out?"

"No, Eve just moved on to other friends."

"Were you two still friends?"

"Um…" he thought for a minute. "Kind of, I guess. Like, we were still friends for a while but then I asked her out. She said no. And after that we kind of stopped talking."

"That make you mad?" Fin asked.

"Yeah, for a while. Then I asked her why and her answer, well, it didn't make sense to me. Like she was reaching for any excuse not to go out with me."

"Ain't that the way they always sound?"

"Yeah, and I've heard a lot of them." The guy grinned. "But this one takes the cake. She said she couldn't go out with me because I was her friend. Said something like she couldn't mix love and friendship. Some stupid bullshit like that. I always thought girls wanted a guy who was a friend and not just in it for the pussy."

"Tony!" the mother yelled from the kitchen. "Watch your language!"

"Yes, ma'am!" He yelled back with a grimace.

"So, you gave up on her after that?" Munch asked.

"Yeah, it's useless talking sense into a chick, you know?"

"Do I ever," Munch answered, his voice tinged with past experiences. "That's all for now. Thanks."

"No problem," the boy replied. "You guys make sure and catch the bastard who did this to her, okay? She didn't deserve what happened to her."

"No one does," Fin said quietly. Tony looked at him for a moment, like he was about to speak, but the moment passed and all he did was nod before turning and walking away.

Munch and Fin exited the apartment and walked back down the hall towards the Jordans' apartment. "You buy it?" Fin asked Munch.

"Buy what?" Munch looked at his partner quizzically.

"The kid said he gave up after that answer. I don't believe that. No guy would give up that easy."

"You think things went down differently?"

"I'm sure."

Munch nodded. "Guess we should ask around then. Find out how things actually turned out."

**…**

"What've you found out?" were the first words out of Cragen's mouth when the squad returned to the precinct, the clock reading close to ten.

"Not a lot of useful information right now," Elliot replied, sitting down at his desk and stretching with a yawn. "CSU was able to distinguish at least thirty different fingerprints in the apartment, half of which were in the girl's room."

"That's a lot of traffic for a sixteen-year-old," Cragen remarked.

"Well, the bedroom is becoming quite a popular place for youth sports," Munch commented from where he was perched on the edge of his own desk, "She might have been entertaining her male friends in there when her parents weren't home."

"We know her friends are into drugs. Any evidence that she was?"

"Amos said that she went drinking sometimes and something about one time when she was 'tripping bad.'" Munch offered.

"Any suspects?"

"Amos is our favorite, though he's covered for the rape," Fin replied.

"Anyone else?"

"We're looking at her friend next door as a possibility. Just on a hunch though. So far we've got no evidence to support it." Munch answered.

"When did CSU say they'd get those fingerprint analysis's to us?"

"Sometime next morning, though no promises," Olivia answered, then she held up a couple of decorated journals sealed in a plastic evidence bag. "Eve kept a diary so I've got some reading material to work on for the next couple of days."

"Oh, wonderful. Reading through the day-to-day angst of a teenage girl's life. How I envy you," Munch protested sarcastically.

"Well, John, if you're that jealous, you can read them after me. Just to make sure I didn't miss anything," Olivia said with a sweet smile.

"Anything else of interest?" Cragen inquired.

"Not that I can think of," Elliot answered and the rest of the unit nodded in agreement.

"Good. I want you all to go home and get some sleep tonight. Tomorrow's going to be a long day and I need you all in top shape. Now go." Cragen waved his hand dismissively and turned to walk into his office to grab his coat before leaving the precinct, demonstrating to his unit what they themselves should be doing.

"Guess we should get going," Elliot said, hiding another yawn behind his hand.

"Yeah, I've got reading to do." Olivia stood from where she had been sitting at her desk and picked up her coat. "See you all tomorrow."

The chorus of "good nights" echoed around the squad room as each member picked up their things and exited the room, leaving behind a quiet, dark, secluded place where only at night could the atmosphere reflect the atrocities it was witness to during daylight hours.


	8. prints

**.prints.**

**Special Victims Unit  
****Squad Room  
****Tuesday, July 6th**

It was morning and the members of the Special Victims Unit were gearing up for another day filled with the horrors, intrigue and excitement that accompanied their jobs. Elliot was standing by the table where the coffee was, brewing himself a cup while eyeing a selection of doughnuts that some thoughtful cop had left in the squad room for the detectives. Olivia was sitting at her desk, already chewing on one of the sugary treats while she shifted through a pile of papers that had been delivered just moments before. "Try the custard filled ones, El," she suggested around a mouthful, "they're great."

"Yeah, you just gotta love those creamy centers," Munch remarked with a slight smile. Olivia merely rolled her eyes at the other detective and looked back to her paperwork.

"I think I'll be safe and just stick with one of the chocolate frosted bars," Elliot said, picking up the indicated doughnut.

"Man, I had one of those things earlier and they've gotta be at least two days old," Fin said with a grimace.

"Would make sense. After all, we always seem to end up with the other departments' leftovers," Munch agreed.

"So, how'd last night's reading go?" Elliot asked Olivia mischievously as he walked back to sit at his desk, holding a cup of coffee in one hand and his doughnut in the other.

"Horrible," Olivia groaned, gesturing at the journal that lay on the desk beside the stack of papers. "I forgot how much like a bad soap-opera teenage girls' lives could play out. And this kid wrote down every little thing! Every other week, she dedicated at least three whole pages to a time when her boyfriend said some little meaningless phrase that made her think he didn't like her anymore."

"This boyfriend got a name?" Fin asked.

Olivia nodded. "Sven Adler. I was going to call Eve's dad today to see if he knew a way to reach him."

"Were they still together?"

"Yeah, but they were going through a bit of rough spot."

"Rough enough to make Sven wanna teach Eve a lesson?"

Olivia shrugged. "It's a possibility though if he did actually do it, we've got a bit of problem."

"And what's that?" Elliot asked from behind his coffee mug.

"He's not a citizen of the U.S. He's a German exchange student."

"Oh, wonderful. I've always wanted to interrogate a neo-Nazi," Munch griped.

"Then you and Fin wouldn't mind going to have a little chat with him?" Cragen asked from where he stood in his office's doorway.

"And I suppose saying 'yes, we would' isn't an option?" Munch replied as he and Fin stood.

"Damn straight it's not."

"In that case, c'mon Fin. We're off to go question the Deustchlander," Munch said as he shrugged on his long black jacket. Fin pulled on his jacket and they walked out of the squad room.

Cragen turned to his other two detectives. "While they're off doing that, I want you two to get down to the CSU lab and tell the boys there to hurry up running those fingerprints through the system. And after that, head over to this hotel" He handed them a piece of paper with an address written on it. "It's where the Jordans are staying until their apartment's done with. The girl's mother called and sounded very distressed. She wants to talk to someone personally so it'd be nice if you two went over that hotel to calm her down. Make sure she knows we're doing everything we can to catch this guy."

**…**

"How's the IDing of our prints coming?" Elliot asked as he and Olivia strode into the labs of the crime scene unit.

A technician looked up from where he was sitting hunched at a computer. "SVU, right? You're talking about the prints found at the homicide of the teenage girl yesterday?"

Elliot nodded and the technician put down the book he had open in his hand. "Well, I think I've got those results around here somewhere…" the tech trailed off as he started shifting papers around, searching for the documents.

"That quick?" They were surprised.

"Yeah, someone here pulled an all-nighter last night and wiped out a load of stuff." The tech shook his head. "He found out his wife was cheating on him and was working to get it out of his head… aha!" He held up a packet of papers triumphantly and handed it to Olivia. "That's the preliminary report but it should have everything you wanna know in it. If I recall correctly, there were five matches found out of the fifteen in the kid's room. Most of the others were too smudged to make out or only partials without enough definition to get a reliable match."

"What about the rest of the prints?" Elliot asked.

The technician shook his head. "They've not got run through yet. Sorry."

Olivia looked up from the papers. "No, no. This is good enough for now. Thanks."

The other man nodded and returned to his work.

"Who've we got?" Elliot turned to his partner and looked at her questioningly.

"Prints from the two boys Munch and Fin talked to, Matt Hart and Jake Stone, prints from Amos Baker-" Elliot smiled grimly at that, "and prints from her brother, Paul Jordan, and a guy he was arrested with, Terry Franklin."

**…**

Munch and Fin walked through the crowded halls of the high school, pushing through clumps of students that had accumulated in the busiest sections of the hallway. As the detectives passed them by, they could hear the occasion word; many of which being repeated quite frequently were "raped," "dead," "murdered," and "Eve," usually in conjunction with the others.

"I forgot how fast gossip travels in schools," Munch commented to his partner as they edged their way around a particularly thick group of teenagers. "Almost faster than the speed of sound sometimes."

"Yeah, the Internet's cured that little handicap," Fin said with a nod.

They entered the school's office and flashed their badges to the secretary. "We need the address of one of your students," Fin told her.

"Is this about the murder of Eve Jordan?" the woman asked in a flustered tone.

"Yes, we'd like to talk to one of her friends," Munch replied. "A Sven Adler, German exchange student."

"Oh," the woman appeared as if she didn't know if it was all right for her to release the information to them or not.

"You do have the address, right?" Munch asked in a slightly sarcastic tone.

"Of course we do." The woman was indignant now. "We're required by law to."

"Then can you just pull it up on your computer there and give it to us?"

"One moment." She clicked the mouse a few times, typed the boy's name in and then gave the detectives the teen's address.

"Thanks for your speedy cooperation, ma'am," Munch said, this time allowing all his sarcasm to come through, before he and Fin turned and exited the office.

**…**

"How is the investigation coming?" Lisa Jordan asked anxiously as Olivia and Elliot entered her hotel room. Her son was stretched out on one of the beds with a laptop that was plugged into a phone jack and her husband was no where in sight.

"Good, we've got some leads. We're doing everything we can to catch the man who murdered your daughter," Olivia answered in a reassuring tone.

"If you need any information from us, just ask" Lisa said, wiping at her eyes with a tissue. "I can't sleep knowing that my daughter's killer is loose."

"Actually, we need to talk to your son about one of his friends," Elliot said.

"Paul, shut off that computer and talk to the detectives," Lisa snapped at her son.

"Just a minute, mom. I'm in the middle of something," Paul complained, typing away on the keyboard.

Lisa stormed over to the computer and slammed the top down, startling her son. She glared at him. "Your sister is dead, in case you've forgotten. Now talk to the detectives. _Now._"

He sat up on the bed and looked at the detectives sullenly. "What'd ya need to know?"

"You're friends with Terry Franklin, right?"

Paul's expression turned wary and he stood up, crossing his arms over his chest as he gruffly asked, "Yeah, what about it?"

"We need to know how to get in touch with him."

"If you need to see him, just stick around. I'm meeting with him in a little bit. What's this about anyway? You think he did it?" In a chair at the back of the room, Lisa sobbed quietly.

"We're not sure," Olivia answered quickly. "We just need to know how his fingerprints got into your sister's room."

Paul looked shocked for a few moments before his face became red with anger. "That son of a bitch. I'm gonna fucking kill him. Raping and killing my fucking sister. That son of a bitch."

There was a knock on the door and Paul practically flew past the detectives in his hurry to rip open the door and tackle the surprised teenager standing outside in the hallway. Paul slammed Terry's head against the floor as they went down, screaming obscenities at the other teen the whole time his hands pummeled the life out of him.


	9. Terry und Sven

**.Terry und Sven.**

**St. Vincent's Hospital   
****Tuesday, July 6th**

Elliot stood from the seat where he had been waiting with Olivia for the doctors to finish treating Terry Franklin. After Paul Jordan had viciously beaten the other boy and Elliot had finally managed to pull the enraged teenager away, Olivia had frantically called for an ambulance while checking to make sure Terry was still breathing. He had been pale and unconscious but it didn't look like any irreparable damage had been done.

"Hey, doc. How's the kid doing?" Elliot asked the doctor exiting the patient's room.

"Terry's got a couple broken ribs, a fractured collarbone and a concussion. One of the rib fragments just barely missed puncturing his lungs and he'll take some time to recover from this, but you know kids," the doctor replied with a shrug, "He'll bounce back soon enough."

"Is it okay if we ask him a couple questions?"

"Sure, as long as he feels up to it," the doctor answered. "Now, I've got another patient to check in on so, if you'll excuse me…" As he walked away, Elliot and Olivia entered the hospital room. Terry was stretched out on the hospital bed, propped up into a sitting position by a couple pillows behind his back. He looked at the detectives with a confused expression and asked in a tired voice, "Do I know you?"

"Well, you probably don't remember us," Olivia answered, "but we were present at the hotel when Paul attacked you."

"Oh, yeah. You were the one who pulled him off me," the eighteen-year-old boy said, gesturing weakly at Elliot.

"Yeah, but do you know why he attacked you?" Elliot said, moving to stand by the bed.

"No, no." Terry shook his head weakly and with a slight wince as the action pulled at the area surrounding his damaged collarbone. "I remember him yelling something at me but when he started bashing my head against the floor, I kinda couldn't hear anymore and everything's still really hazy."

"That's to be expected after the head trauma you experienced, but we need you to answer some questions for us about another incident. Are you okay with that?" Olivia asked.

"Uh, I guess so," Terry sighed. "Will it take long?"

"Hopefully not. Now, our detectives found your fingerprints in Eve's room. Can you explain how they got there?"

"Eve's room?" The teen looked confused, but then he perked up with an expression of surprise. "What? My fingerprints?"

"Yes, can you tell us what you were doing in her room?" Elliot asked, staring at the boy seriously.

"I dunno. I've only been in her room once before but that was a couple of weeks back, ya know?"

"And what were you doing there?"

"Listen, man! I didn't touch her!" Terry stated defensively. "I wouldn't! Paul would kill me! You saw how the bastard beat the shit outta me earlier! If you hadn't been there, he would've killed me! I wouldn't harm a hair on her head. I wouldn't do nothing with a girl unless it was consensual, you know? And I definitely wouldn't kill one!"

"It's okay," Olivia said soothingly, "We believe you. Just tell us how your fingerprints got into her room."

Terry took a deep breath and started speaking, the strain apparent in his tone betraying how uncomfortable it was for him to speak to the detectives. "It was a couple weeks back, like I said. Paul, me, and Eve got drunk when their parents were away on a trip. We partied it up some, played some games, and after Paul passed out, me and Eve started talking and one thing kinda lead to another, ya know, and eventually we made it to her room, though I don't exactly remember how…" His brow wrinkled as he tried to recall the hazy details from that night.

"That's okay, just tell us what happened next," Olivia reassured him.

"Well, I wanted to fuck and it started lookin' like it was gonna go down that way, but she said 'no.' Said she didn't want to mess around with her brother's friends and repeat her mistakes or some drama shit like that." Terry shrugged. "I was disappointed obviously, but I passed out a little bit later so it's probably better that we didn't or else Paul could've found me naked in her bed in the morning."

"I thought you said you wouldn't touch her because of her brother," Elliot said, his tone slightly accusing.

Terry shrugged again. "Well, man, as I'm sure you've experienced, drunk people don't exactly keep a level head when little details like that get in the way of a quick fuck."

"How are we supposed to know that you didn't want to after that night though?"

"As long as I'm sober, I don't-didn't have any thoughts like that about her," Terry answered. "And if you need it, I'll give you a sample of my DNA to clear me, although I was with my girlfriend all yesterday."

"If you'll give us her name and address, we'll go see her and check about that."

"All right." Terry took the piece of paper they gave him and wrote down the information.

"Thank you for your cooperation," Olivia said as she and Elliot turned to leave the room, "I'm sure we won't have to get in touch with you again."

Elliot sighed in frustration as they walked down the hallway of the hospital. "It seems like everyone in this case has an alibi to cover their ass. At this rate, we're going to run out of suspects."

"There's still her boyfriend to consider. Munch and Fin should be talking to him right now and hopefully, they'll be finding out something useful."

**…**

"Is this house where Sven Adler is being housed?" Munch asked the man who answered the door of the house he and Fin had been directed to.

"Yes, I'm Walter Simmons," the man replied politely. "Can I help you gentlemen?"

Munch showed the man his badge. "I'm Detective Munch and this is my partner, Detective Tutuola. We're investigating the murder of Eve Jordan and we need to speak with Sven."

"Right, of course. Please come in." Walter gestured them into his home and into the living room. "Make yourselves comfortable and I'll go get Sven, although he's quite shaken up about Eve's death and so his English might suffer somewhat because of it." He left the room, presumably to locate the exchange student.

"His English is suffering," Fin repeated, "Well, that's great. You don't happen to speak German, do you?"

"Kind of," Munch answered and smiled slightly at the look on Fin's face. "I'm Jewish, remember? So I speak a bit of Yiddish. The language is basically German but with some variation between the two."

Fin stared at Munch for a moment and then shook his head. "Old man, you always seem to have one more trick hidden up those sleeves of yours."

"If I didn't, you know how boring these cases would become?" Munch said with a smug smile now fitted snugly across his face.

"You are the police officers?" a tall teenaged boy asked as he stepped into the room. He spoke with an audible, although not heavy, accent, having pronounced the last syllable as "sears." His physical features were a startling twin to the picturesque Aryan master race that had been promoted in Nazi Germany, however closer inspection revealed that his hair was bleached blonde as his natural dark hair was beginning to show at the roots. The youth stood awkwardly, obviously uncomfortable with their presence and his face was pale, accenting the dark circles that were visible under his eyes.

"Yeah, take a seat." Fin gestured to the chair across from the couch where he and Munch had seated themselves.

"Herr Simmons said you want to talk to me about Eve," Sven stated calmly, pronouncing the 'w' as a heavy 'v'.

"Yeah."

"Am I a suspect?" he asked bluntly.

Fin debated on how to answer and settled for, "We're not sure yet."

The boy sighed and sunk back into the chair he was now seating in. "What do you want to know?"

"When did you last see Eve?"

"Sunday night. We saw ein film und had lunch together."

"We heard that you two weren't getting along so well."

Sven looked at his hands for a moment. "It was a silly disagreement."

"About what?"

"Ein party that night. She wanted to go but I did not und I told her not to. There was alcohol there und Eve did not like to miss out on drinks but when she did drink, she did not think right und I was worried she was going to do something bad."

"Like cheat on you?" Fin asked.

Sven nodded stiffly. "Among other things."

"Where were you yesterday?" Munch spoke up from where he had sat silent for the past few moments.

Sven looked at him woodenly. "Here."

Munch leaned forward, his eyes locked on the German boy. "Can anyone corroborate that?"

He looked confused. "'Corroborate?' I do not know this word."

"Was anyone else here with you?" Fin explained, glancing at his partner for a moment.

"Nein, meine host family was away," Sven replied and stared at Munch with a hostile expression. "You think I killed her?"

"You've got no alibi," Munch answered calmly.

"I do not like what you imply, Schwein," Sven growled.

"Maybe it's because you don't like facing the truth."

The fair-haired youth jumped to his feet, exploding with a quick, "Beiss mich!" before storming out of the room.

Munch stood. "I think you could file that reaction under 'righteous indignation.'"

Fin followed Munch as he exited the house. "What'd he say?"

"'Bite me,'" Munch answered. As he opened the door to the car, he said, "Let's go talk to Amos about this party that Eve went to. I'll bet that her killer was there."

"What if Amos didn't go?" Fin asked, getting in the car.

"C'mon Fin. You know teenagers. They never miss a party."

* * *

Couple of things I feel I need to write here. First, this fic should be cleaning up soon, probably no more than four chapters left.   
Second, the accent of the German kid… I didn't write it into his speech because that would get real messy and it'd end up looking _really_ strange. Unfortunately, I've only met one person ever who was German and spoke not-so-good English and so I don't know if the substituting some German words for English as he talked is okay for portraying a not-so-good English speaker. o.o If that makes sense… 


	10. Amos: interrogation

_Happy belated Thanksgiving to those of you in the US! Hope yours was a good one!_

**

* * *

**

**. Amos: interrogation .**

**Special Victims Unit  
****Interrogation Room  
****Tuesday, July 6th**

"Thanks for coming down here on such short notice," Munch said genially as he and Fin entered the interrogation room where Amos was nervously pushing a styrofoam cup around the table as he waited. The detective sat down opposite the teenager while Fin stayed standing. "We appreciate your cooperation."

Amos stopped fiddling around with the cup and folded his hands in front of him on the table. "Sure, just glad you guys were willing to talk to me here rather than at my work. When NYPD shows up and starts asking questions, it's hard to convince your boss that they're not looking to do you in for something."

"But last time, they were, weren't they?" Munch asked in a casual tone. Amos looked at him questioningly, trying to hide his apprehension. Munch continued, "Last time the cops showed up at your work, they charged you with possession and intent to sell."

"What's that got to do with anything?" Amos' hands strayed back to the cup and he began to tear at its lip. "You guys want to talk about Eve, don't you? My past's got nothing to do with the trouble she's in."

"You dealin' again, Amos?" Fin asked.

Amos looked startled. "No. I learned my lesson."

"We've got some people who say otherwise," Munch said.

"Well, they're lying! I don't deal anymore. What the hell's this got to do with Eve?"

"The party she was at Sunday night. Were you there?"

"For a bit. Why?"

"Have a little business transaction?" Fin asked.

Amos shoved himself away from the table and stood to his feet. "No, dammit! I said I didn't do that anymore! Why're you insisting that I do?"

Munch opened a manila envelope that he had brought in with him and pulled out an evidence bag containing the bag of marijuana that he and Fin had confiscated from Amos' friends. He held it up for Amos to see. "Look familiar?"

"It's pot. So what?"

"So, it's got your fingerprints all over it!" Fin growled.

"What?" Amos' face paled. "Man, there's gotta be some mistake! I haven't touched a bag of weed since I got busted for dealing!"

"Well, Amos. It's looking like this little 'mistake' is going to get you in a lot of trouble," Munch said, swinging the evidence bag in front of him for emphasis.

Amos chewed on his lip for a moment, his shoulders slumped as he thought. "What do you guys want to know? I'll tell you anything. Just don't report this to my probation officer. I'll be fucked over."

"It's a little late for that. He already knows."

"Oh, shit…" Amos sunk back into his chair, letting out a long breath as he clutched his hair.

"Still, you've got to tell us everything you know."

"Why should I?" Amos asked bitterly, his voice thick with despair. "I'm already in so much shit…"

"Why should you?" Fin asked angrily, moving across the room to get in Amos' face. "You should 'cause it's the right thing to do! Life's not always about what you get in return for favors! Eve deserves better than that! She's your friend! Sometimes you've gotta use what little heart you've got to help people out!"

Amos held up his hands defensively as Fin backed off. "Hey! Don't go psycho on me! I'll help! I was just having a bad moment there." He gnawed on his lower lip again, looking at the detectives apprehensively. "What exactly happened to her anyway? I've been working and so busy lately that no one's really had the chance to tell me. My mom didn't want to talk about it and I tried calling Eve's place but there wasn't anyone there."

"She was assaulted in her apartment," Fin answered.

"Assaulted?" Amos looked confused. "But when I saw her, she looked fine. No bruises or nothing. Didn't look like she got banged up… oh…" His expression froze as understanding dawned on him. "When you guys say 'assaulted,' you're meaning the other kind of banged up…"

"And after you dropped her off from the hospital, she was murdered," Munch added.

The blood drained from Amos' face. "What?" he choked out. "Murdered? You mean, she's, like, _dead_?"

"That's generally what 'murdered' implies," Munch said dryly.

"But… she was just alive yesterday… I saw her alive…" He stared at the table blankly.

"Sure you didn't see her dead too?"

"What?" He looked up at the detective.

"Well, Amos, you're looking good for her murder. Your fingerprints were found in her room. We can't pin the rape on you because you have an alibi for the time in which that occurred but afterwards..." Munch shrugged. "By your own admission, when you brought Eve back to her apartment she screamed some pretty bad stuff at you. Who's to say that you didn't snap? Some people get angry real fast, you know."

"Hey! I didn't lay a finger on Eve!" Amos protested. "We hung out in her room sometimes, that's all!"

"Tell us somethin' to make us believe you then," Fin said.

Amos sighed, rubbing his hands in his hair in frustration. "Okay. You were asking about the party Sunday? I saw Eve there, talking to some guy. More like arguing though. It got pretty heated to. Near came to blows but she took off right before he reached his breaking point. I could tell 'cause he turned right around and kicked a hole in the wall."

Munch raised his eyebrows. "You know this guy?"

"No, only seen him around school a couple times."

"Could you identify him in a line-up?"

Amos nodded. "Sure."

"What's he look like?"

Amos thought for a second. "Tall, blond, uh, I'm not good with descriptions…"

"Blond, you say?" Munch looked over at Fin who nodded before opening the door and leaving the room. Munch turned back to Amos. "You're going to be doing that line-up tomorrow."

"You have someone in mind already?" Amos asked.

"Maybe." Munch stood from the table. "Someone will be in in a minute to take you to a cell where you will be staying overnight." He held up a hand to still Amos' protests. "Although you helped us, you're still in trouble and don't try to argue the fact. One last question though: did you ever meet Eve's boyfriend?"

Amos shook his head. "No, we hung out with different people and I never got the chance to meet him."

Munch nodded and exited the room, turning to face Cragen and Fin who were talking. "What's up?"

Cragen had his hands in his pockets and a worried expression on his face. "We're going to have to talk to the ADA about this tomorrow. I had hoped it wouldn't be Sven. If he turns out to be our perp, this is going to be a tough case for her to handle." He glanced at his watch. "It's too late now to do anything but pressure CSU to finish running those prints they haven't done yet and see if they find a match to Sven. The government's got to have his prints on file somewhere and I'd prefer to have all the solid evidence we can get to back us up on this one." The captain of the unit paused, considering something for a moment before continuing, "And let's not cross Amos completely off our lists yet. He still hasn't provided an alibi after he dropped Eve off and he might be lying about not knowing Sven and is trying to set up the other boy.

"Now that that's said: make that call to CSU and then, everyone; go home and get some rest. That's an order. Tomorrow's going to be a very exciting day."


	11. lineup

**.lineup .**

**Special Victims Unit  
****Observation Room  
****Wednesday, July 7th**

Sven Adler sat calmly waiting in the interrogation room while Cragen stood outside in the observation room with his detectives. Cragen was talking to them about how he wanted Sven handled and he was obviously more than a little nervous about the fact that the boy wasn't a U.S. citizen.

"Munch, Fin; you gotta take this slow. We're on thin ice here already. We've got no evidence pointing to him and until Amos gets here for the lineup, you've got to make sure you keep him on our side. We're lucky he's cooperating with us at all, considering how your last talk with him went." At this, Cragen gave Munch a look.

"Don't worry, Captain," Munch said jovially, acting oblivious to Cragen's warning, "We'll be nice to the Nazi."

"That's what I'm worried about," Cragen replied as the two detectives opened the door and entered the room which contained Sven.

The German youth looked up at the detectives. "Have you made any progress with the case? I assume that is what you wanted to speak to me about."

"Yeah, actually," Munch replied as he and Fin sat down at the table. "We just caught a break, didn't we, Fin?"

"Yeah, we looked up one of Eve's friends and asked him about that party you mentioned," Fin said as he sat back in his chair with a leisurely appearance.

"What did you find?" Sven asked.

"Apparently, he saw you there."

"Was?" Sven's brow furrowed and he shook his head. "Nien. I was not there. He's wrong."

"See, Sven, buddy, we're having a hard time believing that," Munch said. "So, to help us clear up this little misunderstanding; where were you Sunday night?"

"Home."

"And your host family was there?"

Sven shifted uncomfortably at this. "Nien. They went to ein restaurant that night."

"Why didn't you go?" Fin asked.

"I was feeling sick."

"And you were feeling all better by Monday?" Munch asked.

"Ja."

"Well enough to go give your girlfriend a visit?"

"Nien! I told you yesterday. I did not see her after Sontag." His German accent was becoming thick as he was growing visibly agitated.

Fin leaned forward. "Well, this guy who saw you at the party says you and her were fightin'. What was it about?"

"I was not there."

"Okay. You weren't there," Munch said, trying to sound agreeable. "But if you had been there, what would the two of you been fighting about?"

"If I was there, which I was not, we would have probably been fighting about the fact that she was there."

"That made you angry, right?"

"Ja, like I said before, I was upset that she went."

"Did it make you angry enough to kill her?"

Sven glared at Munch. "Geh zum Teufel." He shifted his gaze straight forward, refusing to look at the detectives anymore as he announced, "I will no longer cooperate with you."

"Why?" Fin asked. "You got somethin' to hide?"

"Nien. I do not like you."

The sound of someone tapping on the one-way mirror from the other side was heard and Fin stood up and left the room. Munch did not watch his partner go, instead looking at Sven and saying, "I believe our witness has arrived. If you've got nothing to hide, thrn I'm sure you won't object to a lineup."

Sven was suspicious. "For what purpose?"

"We want to see if the guy who was at the party saw you and not some other person fighting with your girlfriend," Munch explained. "If he doesn't finger you and your story checks out, we'll stop bugging you."

Sven considered the proposal for a moment as he eyed Munch for any signs of deception. "And I have your word on this?"

"Yeah, for what little it's worth," Munch answered and he could tell the German teenager was more than a little disconcerted by the smile he had on his face.

**…**

"Amos, when the guys come in, pick out the one you saw arguing at the party with Eve if he's there. If he's not, let us know," Elliot told the teenager.

"Yeah, yeah," Amos said dismissively. "C'mon, let's get this over with. I gotta go back to work."

Elliot nodded and in just a few moments, the men for the lineup walked into the room. Amos looked them over for a second before shaking his head. "No, man. He's not there."

"Are you sure?" Elliot asked. "You only looked at them for a couple seconds."

"Look, I'm positive. The guy I saw weighed at least a hundred pounds more than these guys. He was built. Like a football player. He even had one of those jackets. These guys are all scrawny. Totally wrong body type."

Elliot hung his head in defeat, rubbing his hand along the back of his neck in order to ease the tension there. Then, something hit him. "Wait. Football player type, you said?"

Amos nodded. "Yeah, real bulky. Not fat. Just _big_."

Elliot turned and exited the room, beckoning Amos to follow him. He dug through a box of Eve's stuff that was present in the squad room, quickly locating her yearbook. He flipped open to a marked page and handed the book to Amos. "Anyone there look familiar?"

Amos rolled his eyes in frustration but dutifully scanned the page. Halfway through, he paused and scanned again. Jabbing a finger at a picture, he announced, "That's the guy."

"His name?" Elliot asked, although he already knew to which picture Amos was pointing.

"Tony Laird."

**…**

Elliot parked the squad car by the public basketball court. "There he is," he said with a flick of his chin in the direction that Tony stood, shooting hoops alone. "How do you wanna take him?"

"Let's try not to spook him," Olivia replied. "Just tell him we need to ask him some questions down at the precinct and get him to come with us willingly."

"Right." Elliot nodded and they exited the car. Walking along the chain-link fence, he called out, "Hey Tony."

The teen paused and turned to look at them. "Yeah?"

"NYPD." Elliot showed him his badge. "We need to ask you some questions about your neighbor."

Tony turned and shot at the hoop, asking, "What specifically?" as the ball missed and rebounded off of the fence.

"Just some stuff about her boyfriend," Olivia replied, watching his reactions closely. "Do you know him?"

"Yeah, he's a pussy." Tony shot again and this time the ball went through the hoop.

"Do you know if they'd been fighting?"

"No more than is usual."

"We heard that there was a party on Sunday that they went to," Elliot said in a casual tone. "Did you go?"

"Don't think so." The ball missed the hoop again.

"Don't think so?" Elliot repeated.

"Okay, no." Tony turned to look at the detectives, holding the ball against his body with the crook of his arm. "C'mon, enough chit-chat. What do you want?"

"We want you to come to down to the precinct with us," Olivia said.

His eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"Just for some routine questions," Elliot replied.

"'Routine questions'?" Tony shook his head. "No."

"I'm afraid that's not an option." Elliot tried to keep his tone firm, but non-threatening. However, there was no escaping the obvious meaning of his words.

Tony stared at the detectives for a minute, letting the basketball he held drop to his hand as he considered his limited options.

"Hey," Elliot started as he remembered something Munch and Fin had mentioned earlier, "wasn't your left arm in a sling a few days back?"

Suddenly, without warning, Tony raised the ball up in his hand and launched it at Elliot's head where it collided with a loud cracking noise. The detective dropped to the ground on the stop and Tony quickly turned and took off towards the fence, obviously intending to scale it and run. Olivia drew her gun while glancing with concern at her partner, who quickly waved her on, and then took off after the boy.

"Tony! Get down or I'll shoot!" she yelled at the teen who was already half-way up the tall fence.

"Fuck that, bitch!" he yelled back, continuing to climb.

Olivia took careful aim and fired. With a howl, the teen dropped to the ground, clutching his arm in pain. Olivia moved over him, still aiming her gun at the downed teen, and took out her cuffs with her free hand. "Roll onto your stomach," she growled. He weakly complied and she snapped the cuff onto his good hand, hooking the other one to the fence. Putting her gun into her holster, she pulled out her cell phone and quickly dialed for help as she ran back to her wounded partner.

* * *

'Geh zum Teufel' is roughly equivalent to 'Go to hell.' And when Sven asked 'Was?' at the beginning, I mean it as in the German word meaning 'what?' 


	12. caught

**. caught .**

**Special Victims Unit  
****Interrogation Room  
****Wednesday, July 7th**

"Hey there, Tony," Munch said in pleasant tone as he entered the interrogation room, followed by Fin. "How're you feeling?"

"Tired and fucking bored. You guys have had me in here for over three hours. That and my arm hurts like hell," the teenager answered, glaring daggers at the detective. "Don't you think a doctor should check it out or something?"

"The bullet barely knicked ya," Fin said, "You're fine. Our buddy on the other hand's got a broken nose from that basketball you threw at 'im."

Tony grinned. "It was a nice shot, wasn't it?"

Fin took a step forward at the smug look on the teenager's face but Munch stopped him with a little gesture. "Yeah, great shot there, kid," the older detective said as he reached over and patted Tony on the arm, right where the bullet had hit his flesh. Tony jerked away from the detective's hand with a little cry of pain. Munch had a satisfied smile of his own on his face as he asked, "So, want to tell us why you felt like you had to run from the other detectives?"

Tony glared at him balefully, unwilling to answer the question. His grin returned triumphantly though when he figured out how to annoy the detectives.

"I want a lawyer."

**…**

"He confessed that quick?" Olivia asked incredulously as Munch and Fin entered the squad room.

"I wish," Munch replied, collapsing into his chair with a sigh.

At Olivia's confused look, Fin explained. "He lawyered up."

"What'd you guys do?"

"Munch congratulated him on his good aim with a friendly pat on the arm," Fin answered and Olivia nodded to show her approval. "Speaking of which, how's Elliot doin'?"

"He's upstairs, lying down with a cold compress on his face," Olivia answered. "Captain's orders." Glancing towards Cragen's office, she added, "And speak of the devil…"

"I heard that," Cragen said as he approached the group, his tone as affectionate as he could allow it to get. However, he was not there to jest with the detectives. "Did you get off the phone with Warner's office?"

"Yeah, she said it's going to be at least another couple of hours before she'll have anything conclusive," Olivia answered.

"Has anyone notified the boy's mother that we have him?"

"I did," Fin answered. "She said he's eighteen and on his own."

"Ah, motherly love; such a beautiful thing," Munch said, his tone typically dry.

"She also told me that her husband's a veterinarian," Fin added.

Cragen looked at Fin for a moment before saying, "Not that that little fact doesn't interest me but I have to ask 'so?'"

"Veterinarians use chloroform."

Cragen nodded. "Well, that answers one question. Now, someone find a lawyer for this kid so we can get some more answers." He turned to return to his office but paused, adding, "And contact Casey and tell her we need her down here. The kid's probably going to want a deal."

**…**

Tony's lawyer was becoming irritated with Munch and Fin. "You've been questioning my client non-stop for the last hour. He's already professed his innocence and the evidence you've presented is circumstantial at best. Unless you've got an ace hidden up your sleeve, I suggest you release my client."

"Law says we can hold him here for up to twenty-four hours without chargin' him with anythin'," Fin reminded the lawyer.

"What are you delaying for?" The lawyer asked, his eyes narrowing.

"We're not delaying," Munch replied easily, "We're merely trying to give your client a chance to come clean and confess. The DA likes cooperative criminals."

"Hey! That label's for a jury to decide!" the lawyer said, pointing a finger at Munch indignantly.

"Not with the evidence we've got," ADA Casey Novak announced as she entered the room. She slapped a file down on the table and looked down at Tony's lawyer, as though daring him to deny its contents.

"Nice suit," Tony said, commenting on Casey's interesting choice of a lime green business suit.

She ignored the comment, turning to ask Munch and Fin, "He's been Mirandized?" as Tony's lawyer reached for the file she had placed on the table. The detectives nodded in affirmation.

"What's this?" the lawyer asked suspiciously, thumbing through the papers inside.

"Lab results," Casey replied, the vague hints of a smug smile playing at the corners of her mouth. "DNA and fingerprints provided courtesy of your client."

The lawyer's eyes flew to look at Tony. The teenager looked taken aback but tried to conceal his discomfort. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Your basketball. Sweat contains DNA, didn't you know?"

Tony started to protest. "But that was my private property-"

"-which you relinquished ownership of once you used it as a weapon to attack a police officer." Casey's expression dared Tony's lawyer to contradict her.

The man sat back, his posture indicating the defeat he felt. "She's right, Tony."

Casey took Fin's vacated seat at the table, all business. "So, does your client wish to explain to us what his fingerprints were doing in the Jordans' apartment and how his seminal fluid came to be located inside of Eve Jordan?"'

Tony glared at Casey. "Go to hell, bitch."

"You would do well to warn your client that it is in his best interests to cooperate with me or a deal might not be so forthcoming," Casey stated calmly.

The lawyer leaned over and whispered something to Tony, who looked like he had swallowed something disagreeable. He sat back in his seat, staring at Casey sullenly, as he asked, "What do you want to know?"

"What happened that morning?"

"I'm sure you and your detective friends here already know the juicy little details," Tony said. "I wouldn't want to bore you with unneeded repetition."

"Tell us why you did it."

"I was fed up with her. She was such a tease but she never meant anything by it. " He shrugged. "After a while it just pissed me off and I wanted to put an end to it, teach her a lesson. I had thought about it for a while, you know, but seeing her at that party on Sunday was the last straw. She acted like such a slut when she was drunk and then freaked out when guys took it as they saw it."

"What do you mean?"

"You know, took her at face value. If you had a girl hanging all over you, wouldn't you think she wanted to get to know you better? Anyway, I did, and then she totally spazzed out and told me she was just being friendly and it didn't mean anything, which was total bullshit. So, yeah, I got fed up with her."

"The chloroform?" Casey prompted.

"My dad'll let me hang around his office sometimes. It's pretty easy to get stuff from the medical cabinets."

"How'd you get in?"

"I had a copy of the apartment's key. She left it over one day after spending the night with my sister and I took it. I planned to get it back to her someday, but never got around to it."

"What happened after Eve got back?"

"I went over there. Not really sure why; guess it was stupid of me. She took one look and she knew. Although, the fact that I let myself in with the same key I had used the first time probably tipped her off." He chuckled, amused at the memory. "Anyway, she stared at me for a while, then started sobbing 'How could you?' over and over. Then she came flying at me, kicking and punching. I just defended myself."

"Wouldn't you call punching her in the head so hard she couldn't see straight, dragging her to her bed and then crushing her windpipe a little excessive for self-defense?" Casey asked sarcastically.

He shrugged again. "Matter of opinion."

Munch had been staring at Tony thoughtfully while he had been speaking and now took the opportunity to say, "If I remember correctly Tony, you told Fin and I that Eve didn't deserve what happened to her."

He nodded. "Yeah, I said that."

"Then why did you do it to her?"

"Because, she didn't deserve what I did to her," he answered, with a smile that could almost be called innocent. "She deserved worse. Too bad I got carried away when she attacked me… we could've had a lot more fun together."

"'Fun' would not have been the word Eve would have used and here, we like to call it 'rape'. Remember that word," she said in a chilling tone as she returned his disconcerting smile, "because where you're headed, you're going to be gaining a more _intimate_ knowledge of it. Although, I'll doubt you'll enjoy the experience as much this time; being on bottom does have its downsides, I hear."

"Gloating doesn't become you, bitch," the teenager said in a shaky voice that belied his apprehension about what she had said.

"Oh, look! Another one. Isn't it nice when they start brushing up on their prison vocabulary before they get there?" Munch said to Fin, his tone mocking.

"Feel like helping me speed him on his way there?" Fin replied, his handcuffs in hand as he walked across the room to stand beside Tony.

"Sure," Munch agreed as the handcuffs clicked into place around the teenager's wrists, "Tony Laird; you are under arrest for the assault and murder of Eve Jordan."

**. case closed .**

* * *

Yay. It's over. And I'm so glad. x.x About half-way through this fic I realized I shouldn't have put it up in the first place. The plot was too normal. SVU fics are much more interesting when it's not just the standard girl-gets-raped-gotta-find-the-guy-who-done-it.  
**shameless plug:** Which is why I've got _Scream of the Crucified_ out and am gonna post up _Three-Ring Circus_ soon. Keep an eye out for _T-RC _and if you haven't checked out _SotC_ yet, please do. You won't be disappointed.  
So,even though this was standard fare, I hoped you all enjoyed it anyway. Thanks for all the reviews! Later


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